Excerpt from : http://newstodaynet.com/printer.php?id=16318
Tomorrow (14f April 2009) is not only the holy day of VAISHAKH, but also the 1st day of the Tamil New Year, Varsha Pirappu or Puthandu— the first day of Tamil month Chitirai.
Machindranath
Tomorrow also happens to be the Punyathithi of Muni Yogi Macheendranath (Machindranath or Matsyendranath) the originator and creator of the NATH SAMPRADAYA. He is said to have lived in the 8th-9th centuries. The Nath Sampradaya is a form of Avadhuta-pantha sect. The nature of the avadhuta is the subject of the Avadhuta Gita, the authorship of which is traditionally ascribed to Dattatreya. In this Sampradaya, the Divine Significance of the Guru and transcendental power of Yoga are considered as essential and indispensible for spiritual self-realization and eternal bliss. It was Muni Yogi Machindranath who became well known as the founder of the specific stream of yogis known as the Nath Sampradaya. Muni Yogi Machindranath’s two most important disciples were Muni Yogis Caurangi and Gorakshanath (Goraknath). On 21 April 2009, falls the holy day of Muni Yogi Gorakshanath Yatra in Maharashtra. That India is a great land of underlying cultural and spiritual unity amidst diversity is proved by the fact that both in Maharashtra and in Nepal the day of Muni Yogi Machindranath Yatra is celebrated with great pomp and splendour in the month of Vaishak (April). A contemporary painting of Muni Yogi Machindranath has been presented above. The two words in Hindi on the top of the painting can be transliterated into English as ‘Alakh Niranjan’. Alakh Niranjan is an invocatory mantra belonging to the NATH tradition.
Rato (Red) Machindra Nath Rath Yatra at Patan Town in Nepal
The mythological associations and cultural traditions associated with the origin of the Nath Sampradaya teachings of Muni Yogi Machindranath are indeed fascinating. Traditionally, Lord Shiva is credited with propounding Hatha Yoga. It is said that on a lonely island, assuming nobody else would overhear him, he gave the knowledge of Hatha Yoga to Goddess Parvati, but a fish heard the entire discourse, remaining still throughout. Lord Shiva took mercy on the fish (Matsya) and made him a siddha, who came to be known as Matsyendranaath or Machindranath. Machindranath taught Hatha Yoga to Caurangi, a limbless man who was given hands and feet by Machindranath just by looking at him. HATHA YOGA PRADIPIKA mentions Adinaatha, Machindrath, Gorakhanaatah and many other yogis who became famous Hatha Yogis. Thus Muni Yogi Machindranath became famous as the founder of the specific stream of yogis known as the Nath Sampradaya.
The grand festival of Machindra Nath Rath Yatra, beginning on the full moon day of Vaisakh (March-April), takes place at Patan in Nepal every year. It is considered as very important for the farmers of Nepal as it is celebrated before the monsoon with invocatory prayers for good rain. This is the longest as well as the most important festival of Patan. It begins with several days of ceremonies and advance preparations for the fabrication of a wooden-wheeled chariot at Pulchowk, near the Ashoka Stupa in Patan. The chariot bears the shrine of the Rato (Red) Machindranath (the Tantric expression of Lokeshwar) and carries a very tall spire fabricated from bamboo poles raised from four ends of the chariot. This unwieldy spire is around 10 meters tall and on account of which, the chariot balances precariously. During the Rath Yatra, Lord Machindranath, representing the primordial and timeless Bhairava (also known as Kala Bhairava), confers his Divine Benediction on all present, viewing his followers from the high seat of his beautifully constructed chariot.
Muni Yogi Machindranath’s two most important disciples were Muni Yogi Caurangi and Muni Yogi Gorakshanath. The latter came to eclipse his Master in importance in many of the branches and sub-sects of the Nath Sampradaya. Even today, GORAKSHANATH is considered by many to have been the most influential of the ancient NATHS. He is also reputed to have written the first books dealing with Laya yoga and the raising of the KUNDALINI-SHAKTI. There are several sites, ashrams and temples in India dedicated to Muni Yogi Gorakshanath. Many of them have been built at sites where he lived and engaged in meditation and other sadhanas. According to tradition, his samadhi shrine and gaddi (seat) reside at the Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur. According to some scholars, the samadhi shrines (tombs) of both Machindranath and Gorakshanath are to be seen at Nath Mandir near the Vajreshwari temple about a kilometer from Ganeshpuri in Thane District in Maharashtra.
The Natha Sampradaya does not recognize caste barriers, and their teachings were adopted by outcasts and kings alike. The heterodox Nath tradition has many sub-sects, but all honor Matsyendranath and Gorakshanath as the founders of the tradition of Navnath. Navnath refers to the nine Hindu Saints. These nine teachers collectively known as Navnaths are considered as being representative of the great teachers in this tradition or parampara. They are worshipped collectively as well as individually. The names of nine Masters or Naths on whom the Navnath Sampradaya, the lineage of the nine gurus is based, are given below.
Kanifnath temple at Sasvad near Pune
. Matsyendranath (Machindranath)
. Gorakhnath
. Jalandharnath or Jalandernath
. Kanifnath
. Gahininath
. Bhartrinath or Bhartarinath
. Revananath
. Charpatnath
. Naganath or Nageshnath
As I have observed earlier above, Muni Yogi Machindranath Rath Yatra takes place in different parts of Maharashtra and more particularly in Ahmednagar, Pune and Thane Districts. At Sasvad, near Pune we have a beautiful temple dedicated to Muni Yogi Kanifnath. Kanifnath was a great Saint and belonged to the Navnath clan detailed above. The locals told us that Kanifnath visited this place and discovered this cave. Machindranath Rath Yatra takes place at Sasvad every year. Likewise Machindranath Rath Yatra also takes place at Nath Mandir near the Vajreshwari temple about a kilometer from Ganeshpuri in Thane District in Maharashtra.
Yoga Muni Mahasiddha Gorakshanath
Gorakshanath (also known as Gorakhnath) was born in the 9th century in Punjab. According to tradition, he was a Nath yogi who was originally a Vajrayana Buddhist. In the second half of his life, he became intimately connected to Shaivism as one of the two most important disciples of Muni Yogi Machindranath, the other being Muni Yogi Caurangi. Along with his Guru Muni Yogi Machindranath, he is considered the founder of the doctrines of Hatha-Vidya, Laya-Yoga, Nada-Yoga and Kundalini-Yoga. Muni Yogi Gorakshanath is also famed in history, song and legend as the founder of Yoga Orders of Kanphatas, Nathas, Gorakhanathas and Kaulas, forming the largest Indian Tantra Yoga tradition. In Buddhism, he is worshipped as one of the founders of the Himalayan Vajrayana Buddhism.
Muni Yogi Gorakshanath traveled widely across the Indian subcontinent, and interesting accounts about him are found in some form or other in several far removed places including Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Punjab, Sind, Uttar Pradesh, Nepal, Assam, Bengal, Maharashtra, and even Sri Lanka. Gurkhas of Nepal also take their name from this saint. Gorakhpur, the district headquarters of Gorakhpur District, is believed to derive its name from Muni Yogi Gorakhnath. The Gorakhnath Math (Gorakhnath Mutt) is a Hindu monastic group in the Nath tradition. Today’s Gorakhnath Math, centered at Gorakhpur in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, is a religious institution that runs two Gorakhnath temples, one in Nepal in The district of Gorkha (another word believed to be derived from Baba Gorakhnath), and the other a little south of Gorakhpur.
There is also a Gorakkar Temple dedicated to the memory of one of the great Siddhars of ancient Tamilnadu belonging to the Nath tradition of Muni Yogi Gorakhnath at Vadakku Poigainallur near Nagapattinam in Nagapattinam District.
The NATH tradition underwent its greatest expansion during the time of Gorakshanath. He wrote many books on Yoga and spirituality and even today he is considered as the greatest of the Naths. There are many texts on Yoga traditionally attributed to Gorakshanath, such as ‘Gorakshapaddhati’ (Precepts of Goraksha) ‘Gorakshadipika’, ‘Goraksha Samhita’, ‘Goraksha Gita’, ‘Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati’, ‘Yoga Siddhanta Paddhati’, ‘Yoga-Bija’, ‘Yoga Chintamani’, ‘Jnana Amrita’ (Nectar of wisdom), ‘Amanaska-yoga’ (Contemplation out of thoughts), ‘Amaruddha Prabodha’ (Comprehension of the immortal stream), and ‘Yoga-Martanda’ (the Sun of yoga). He has thousands of devotees in several parts of Northern, Eastern and Western India. All his disciples even today believe with fervent devotion that Muni Yogi Gorakshanath is alive and immortal. Any one who offers his prayers to him with a pure heart, mind and soul can hear His prayerful drum (damara) or meet Him in person.
What is the message that Muni Yogis like Machindranath and Gokarnath have for us today? If only we care to listen to them, they tell us that the spiritual process is a day-by-day, step-by-step unfolding of consciousness, a process of breaking down stale and conditioned parts of ourselves to allow a new birth to take place. We are our worst enemies stuck in stagnant pools of self-righteousness. We’re afraid to let go; we’re afraid to be touched by creative energy.
The real test of spiritual work is to survive ourselves. We all have Chakra systems, minds, breath, energy, and will. We have to work at meditation, have endurance, patience, the desire to succeed, and above everything else, we have to stop taking ourselves for granted. The work should be done joyously and with love.
God hides behind thousands of masks. He’s a master quick-change artist, a magician, vaudeville performer, trickster, wise man, beggar, and fool. He never fits any role. Like the wind changing directions, HIS Legerdemain bewilders the most intelligent of mortals. We can’t look for HIM. We have to feel HIM in our hearts, become one with HIS being, evolve and grow and see life from a transcendental perspective. The child in us should never lose sight of HIM. If we rekindle child child_like innocence, all the time and everywhere, and if we feel gratitude and joy in our hearts in every situation and station in life, then the spectacle of God would manifest around us. Our responsibility is to recognize this simple truth.
(The writer is a retired IAS officer)
e-mail the writer at
vsundaram@newstodaynet.com
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